Clintons to the rescue on Obamacare

President Barack Obama on Tuesday tapped into what is becoming his Obamacare elixir: the Clintons.

For the second time in a month, Obama leaned on the former first family to help untangle the complexities of the health care law with less than a week left to go before the open enrollment begins Oct. 1.

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Obama and Bill Clinton's full remarks at the CGI

Obama's most significant health care comments

Obama and former President Bill Clinton made the rare joint appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative summit in Manhattan, settling into cushy white chairs on a stage that resembled the set of a TV talk show. Clinton acted as the host and Obama as the guest, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton providing the introduction.

Obama repeatedly portrayed his signature domestic achievement as a reasonable and restrained reform program, one modeled after the overhaul put in place in Massachusetts by his former Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

“Normally this would be pretty straightforward,” Obama said. “A lot of people don’t have health insurance. A lot of people realize they should get it. But let’s face it, it’s been a little political, this whole Obamacare thing.”

He urged uninsured Americans to ignore Republicans who, he said, are spreading misinformation in a bid to suppress turnout for the insurance marketplaces known as exchanges.

“What you’ve had is an unprecedented effort that you’ve seen ramp up over the last month or so in which those who have opposed the idea of universal health care in the first place have fought this thing tooth and nail through Congress and through the courts and so forth,” Obama said. “They’re trying to scare and discourage people from getting a good deal.”

Americans who need health insurance should tune out the Obamacare naysayers, the president said. Signing up for insurance will be as easy as buying a plane ticket or a flat-screen TV, he said.

“Make your own decision about whether it is good for you,” Obama said. “What we are confident about is when people look and see they can get high quality, affordable health care for less than their cell phone bill, they’re going to sign up.”

The event played out on cable television split screens with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who had seized control of the Senate floor at 2:40 p.m. in protest of Obamacare and pledged to talk until he couldn’t stand any longer.

White House officials billed the event with Bill Clinton as a “conversation” on health care, a breezy discussion between two leaders who had collectively spent more than 20 years fighting for universal coverage.

Obama and Clinton sounded, at times, like salesmen asking people to go online and check out the product.

“We’ve just got to drive people to the websites,” said Clinton, who delivered a speech on Obamacare earlier this month in Arkansas.

But it was also heavy on policy, as Clinton asked Obama to explain why he focused on health reform in the middle of the recession, how Obamacare would reduce the deficit, and why the promise of affordable coverage depends on whether young people sign up in the insurance exchanges.

“Take a look at it and you will discover this is a good deal for you,” Obama said.

Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton made a forceful case in support of Obamacare’s implementation and slammed the “noisy minority” of Senate Republicans who advocate defunding the program, saying a government shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and “we’ve seen that movie before.”

“This president is not going to agree to defund … if they want to shut the government down that’s on their head, and their responsibility,” Clinton said.

The event with the Clintons kicked off the administration’s six-month Obamacare rollout. The White House is deploying the president, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and cabinet secretaries to encourage consumers to sign up for coverage before enrollment closes March 31, 2014.

Obama will deliver a “very personal speech” Thursday in Maryland on the “real-life impact of this law,” a senior White House official said Monday. He will also host a conference call Wednesday with mayors and other state officials.

Michelle Obama will “reach out directly to key communities, including the moms and veterans of America to enlist them in the effort to get themselves and their families covered,” according to the White House. Biden will hold a call with nurses, cabinet secretaries will join mayors in local communities, and a lineup of supporters — celebrities, women’s magazines, faith leaders, radio DJs — will try to reach young people, the White House said.